Ratings: Castle Returns to Series Lows; NBC's Blindspot Opens Big

ABC’s Castle opened Season 8 on Monday night with 6.8 million total viewers and a 1.2 demo rating (per finals), down from both last year’s premiere (10.8 mil/2.2) and finale (8.4 mil/1.4) and hitting series lows.

FOX |Gotham (4.6 mil/1.6) was down sharply from its year-ago launch (8.2 mil/3.2) but was on par with its freshman finale (4.9 mil/1.7). Minority Report debuted to 3.1 mil/1.1, below any of Sleepy Hollow‘s Season 2 numbers.

NBC |The Voice returned to 12.4 mil and a 3.5, down from its February premiere (14 mil/4.1) and more on par with its year-ago opener (13 mil/3.9), yet hitting a low for a premiere. Blindspot (10.6 mil/3.1) bowed strongly, giving NBC its best rating in the time slot since The Blacklist‘s year-ago opener, trouncing the State of Affairs launch (8.7 mil/2.2) and delivering the best retention (82 percent) for an apres-Voice drama debut ever.

CBS |Big Bang Theory (18.2 mil/4.7) slipped 12 percent in the demo vs. its previous Monday premiere but still dominated the night; Life in Pieces retained 11.3 mil/2.6, marking CBS’ most watched comedy debut in the time slot since 2011 (2 Broke Girls). Scorpion (11 mil/2.2) was well shy of its year-ago debut/series highs (13.8 mil/3.2) but matched its finale. NCIS: LA (8 mil/1.2) returned to series lows.